1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pre-paid telephone calling cards and also relates to discount coupons for goods and services. More specifically, the invention relates to a telephone calling card with an integral coupon, and to a method for using the card to place a telephone call and redeem the coupon.
2. Description of the Related Art
A pre-paid telephone calling card allows a person to make a telephone call without making a payment at the time the call is made. Rather, the cost of the telephone call is debited from a corresponding account during each call. Prior to making the telephone call, the person purchases the card in exchange for a payment that represents the initial balance of the account. The seller may be the company that provides the telephone service or may be a reseller of cards purchased from such a service provider or sold on behalf of the service provider. To make a telephone call to another party, the purchaser first makes a telephone call to the service provider, typically through a toll-free connection. The toll-free telephone number is typically printed on the card. The person then provides information to the service provider that identifies the account. Typically, the person simply uses the buttons of the telephone keypad to enter a number that is printed on the card. Such a number is commonly known as a personal identification number (PIN). Nevertheless, other types of pre-paid telephone calling cards have a magnetic stripe or similar medium that stores the PIN or other identifying information on the card in an electronically readable manner. Telephones having a means for reading a magnetic stripe can thus read the number or other identifying information automatically. The service provider's computer telephony system or switch receives and compares the identifying information to information in a database to verify the authenticity of the account. If the account is authentic, the system instructs the caller, typically by means of voice prompts, to dial the telephone number of the party to whom the caller wishes to speak. The system then completes the call by making the connection through the appropriate telephone companies and debits the caller's account by an amount proportional to the duration of the call. When the account balance falls to an amount not sufficient to pay for a call, the system prevents any further telephone service. The person may then discard the card and purchase a new card. Some service providers provide a feature that allows a person to recharge a card, i.e., increase the balance of the corresponding account, by making further payment. Nevertheless, the vast majority of telephone calling cards are considered disposable. Such a card has no further function once the balance of its corresponding account is depleted.
A discount coupon is a token, typically a slip of paper, that a consumer can redeem at a retailer of goods or services for a discount on the purchase price. A discount coupon is typically imprinted with the name of the product or service and the amount of the discount. For example, it may be imprinted with the text: "25.cent. Off Purchase of Blort Cola." It is also typically imprinted with a bar code to facilitate redemption. A person may obtain coupons by cutting them out of a newspaper advertisement or other publication, by receiving them in a mailed advertisement, by removing them from a product or its packaging, or by other means. The manufacturer of a product is typically the party that causes the coupons to be issued. For example, the manufacturer or its agent, such as the manufacturer of the (fictitious) Blort brand cola in the example above, may have coupons printed in a newspaper advertisement. To redeem a coupon, the person typically presents the coupon to the retailer at the time he purchases the goods or services, and the retailer discounts the purchase price by the amount indicated on the coupon. The retailer subsequently presents the coupon to the manufacturer of the product for reimbursement of the discount amount. A consumer may sometimes redeem coupons in other ways, such as by mailing them to directly to the product manufacturer.
Although coupons are distributed to potential consumers of products and services in various ways as described above, it would be desirable to distribute them in yet other ways to increase the number of potential purchasers of a product or service. This need and others are satisfied by the present invention in the manner described below.